Predicting environmentally responsible apparel consumption behavior of future apparel industry professionals: The role of environmental apparel knowledge, environmentalism and materialism

The present study explored several critical constructs related to environmentally responsible apparel consumption, which include environmentalism, materialism and knowledge of environmental issues pertaining to apparel products. The research focused on apparel merchandising and design students (n = 233) as future industry professionals who will soon be driving industry decisions in apparel production and consumption. A proposed research model was subject to confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. The model explained 58% of the variance in environmentally responsible apparel consumption behavior. Environmental apparel knowledge positively influenced environmentalism, and, in turn, environmentalism had a significant positive influence on environmentally responsible apparel consumption behavior. On the contrary, environmental apparel knowledge did not significantly influence materialism, and, in turn, materialism was not related to environmentally responsible apparel consumption behavior. Practical implications and limitations of the present study are also discussed.